Promoter apologizes, offers partial refunds after some say ‘Old School’ concert was a disaster

ATLANTA — The promoter of an “Old School” concert, which many have called a disaster, has apologized to fans for the less-than-favorable experience. He told Channel 2′s Tom Jones that he is considering offering partial refunds.

Jones had an interview set up with the promoter to give him an opportunity to voice his side of what happened, but he never showed up. He also stopped answering the phone calls and texts from Jones. Jones did receive a statement beforehand where he apologized and mentioned partial refunds.

“This was one of the biggest rip-offs I’ve ever seen,” said concertgoer Reggie Nelson.

Nelson said the Saturday night music fest at the Home Depot Backyard was so awful he wants a refund. He posted on social media about all that went wrong, and his post was filled with fans who felt exactly like he did.

“They wanted a refund. Everybody was very disappointed,” said Nelson.

The promoter of the show, SEMG, has issued a statement and apologized for the fans’ frustrations. The statement indicated that partial refunds are being considered on a case-by-case basis.

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“We started booing. We started asking for, chanting, we wanted our money back,” said concertgoer Cheryl Shiver.

She was disappointed in the show and called it torture.

Complaints included the show starting more than two hours late and local acts taking up most of the performance time, leaving little time for headliners like Frankie Beverly & Maze and Johnny Gill, who took to the stage but refused to perform. There were also sound system issues.

“This is the worst, by far, the worst concert I’ve ever been to,” said Nelson.

The complaints continue with issues about long lines for food and beverages, vendors running out of food and beverages and extremely long bathroom lines.

The promoter acknowledged the problems and said he will work to make things run smoothly in the future.

“I don’t think the promoter will be able to come back again and take from the Atlanta crowd like he just done. That was crazy,” said Nelson.

The promoter has not defined who exactly will be able to get those partial refunds and when a decision will be made on refunds.

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